A judge has sentenced the founder of defunct whitegoods distributor Kleenmaid to nine years in prison for his role in a $13 million fraud against Westpac, saying it would be “obnoxious and naive” to consider his crimes victimless.
A key officer from the ACCC involved in interviewing JPMorgan bankers during a cartel investigation that led to criminal charges against ANZ and two investment banks has denied allegations that he acted improperly during the investigation.
ANZ has won access to documents the bank claims are crucial to its defence in a high stakes criminal cartel case, but the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has flagged a possible appeal of the ruling.
ASIC has chalked up a victory in a long-running case against a Marshall Islands-based binary options trader, with a judge finding the trader engaged in the “deliberate deception of vulnerable people”.
The Federal Court has imposed a penalty of almost $5.2 million on AMP Financial Planning after finding it was “reckless” in its ālamentable failureā to properly respond to a now banned adviser who was churning life insurance for higher commissions.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission formed the view that Dover Financial’s “Orwellian” client protection policy was misleading in 2016 but did not raise its concerns with the now defunct firm until 2018, a court has heard.
Westpac is now facing at least eight class actions in various US courts seeking $200 million from the bank for allegedly failing to alert shareholders to violations of anti-money laundering laws.
A sideshow evidentiary dispute in a committal hearing in a landmark criminal cartel case against ANZ and two investment banks has drawn to a close, but not before testing the patience of a magistrate, who warned her ruling would be far from a “Rolls Royce decision”.
JPMorgan has taken ANZ to task for its “heroic endeavours to create an air of suspicion” around the conduct of ASIC and the ACCC prior to the filing of a landmark criminal cartel case, slamming the allegations as purely speculative.
ANZ is seeking information on whether the ACCC put pressure on ASIC to not pursue proceedings against JP Morgan over a $2.5 billion share placement that is at the centre of a closely watched criminal cartel case, saying the matter raised a “serious question” about potential abuse of power by the regulators.